STEVE DAVIS

WE SEE

Smoke Sessions Records

Steve Davis, trombone; Renee Rosnes, piano; Essiet Essiet, bass; Lewis Nash, drums; Eddie Henderson, trumpet; Ralph Moore, tenor saxophone.

The wonderful strains of “Milestones” wafts across my listening room from the new cd by Steve Davis called, “We See.”  Davis steps up first as a soloist.  He explores this familiar Miles Davis jazz standard, exhibiting his tenacity on trombone. Davis comes out swinging, followed by Ralph Moore on tenor saxophone, who slides through the chord changes like oil on glass. These two outstanding musicians parted the curtains for Eddie Henderson’s trumpet to glorify the stage.  The “Milestones” tune invites each member of the Steve Davis Sextet to interpret the tune in their own sweet way.  Renee Rosnes is a magnificent pianist.  She explores her spiritual connection to the composition at a racing pace.  Lewis Nash makes a bold and beautiful statement on his trap drums, crashing onto the scene with technical brilliance.

When track #3 plays, it’s the title tune composed by Thelonious Monk.  The arrangement is driven by the powerful bass instrument of Essiet Essiet. Steve Davis has a buttery tone on the trombone.  He’s velvet smooth.

Another of my favorites on this album is their rendition of “Up Jumped Spring” that features the very talented Renee Rosnes on piano. She opens the tune, before the band swings the arrangement. It features the three awesome horn players of this sextet.

In the liner notes, Steve Davis shares information and opinion about the importance of ‘the long tone.’  Clearly, he has mastered this technique.

“A long tone is a single unwavering note played for as long as a wind musician can hold it with steady pitch, volume, and tone color.  Long tones are essential to developing consistent breath control and, ultimately a full rich, individualized sound,” he shares.

Davis comes from a musical family.  The ‘long tone’ actually became somewhat of an eclectic family soundtrack. They recall that Steve was about three or four years old when his family took him to hear Muddy Waters and Big Mama Thornton in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts.  Their house was always full of Motown, the Memphis blues, the Philadelphia sound, folk music and jazz.

The repertoire on this current Steve Davis Sextet album is rich with standards by some of our heavy weight jazz composers and musicians.  You will enjoy each number, because the arrangements are inventive, but more importantly the musicianship is excellent.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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